Nili Lotan’s core aesthetic is, and has always been, a modern, fluid take on the Seventies rocker sensibility, which the designer knows to her core. She lived it, she wears it, she continually redesigns it. So for pre-fall, it came as no surprise that Lotan found no need for a specific theme or inspiration. The designer also mentioned fast-paced growth and wider exposure for the company, online and in brick-and-mortar, recently adding Nordstrom to her stockists and claiming to be one of the top-selling ready-to-wear brands on Barneys.com. With the brand’s growth came an established collective of core pieces, named NL Core, which in result, has given Lotan more drive and freedom to experiment with her four rtw collections.
For pre-fall, this meant adding prints and playing with new fabrics. “Where before I’d have one print, now I have three.…Two pieces of leather, now I have purple suede and leather,” she described. “I step a bit out of my own comfort zone, where before maybe I was sticking to my own and now I’m like, ‘OK, let’s go a little wider.’” Experimenting paid off, including a grape colored turtleneck paired with snakeskin knee-length leather skirt, a mannish yet sensual three-piece nutmeg suit, khaki silk and linen (a new fabric) trousers and a full cashmere group, meant to sit on its own with the idea of luxury lounging. Lotan’s dive into leather — which started with one single black pant a year ago — has been one that she’s most excited about. “How is that possible? I’ve never done leather in my life,” Lotan recalled, adding, “Now I’m so into it — jackets and skirts, the whole deal.” The collection was more eclectic than ever before, but quintessentially held Lotan’s easygoing “undoubtedly and unapologetically female” attitude.
Nili Lotan Pre-Fall 2019
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